Die components, such as trim steels, scrap cutters, flange steels, form steels, pierce inserts, trim inserts, button block inserts, and the like, are components of a stamping die assembly that are used to form and cut away excess sheet steel from a vehicle part, such as a hood, door panel, or other like part being formed. Any number of die components can be used per stamping die assembly, each die component having a unique configuration and function. In the past, the common method for producing die components involved an investment casting process, which required a pattern maker to glue Styrofoam® pieces together in an approximate shape of a desired die component and then fine tune that approximate shape by machining the Styrofoam® into the shape and size of the actual die component to be cast. Recently, this technology has been referred to as subtractive manufacturing, wherein Styrofoam® pieces, metallic blocks or other such billets have been machined down to the approximate shape of a die component. Additive manufacturing techniques, such as sand printing, have all but eliminated the need to form such parts using subtractive manufacturing techniques. Using subtractive manufacturing techniques, extra machining stock, as much as 10 mm, is left on the subtractively manufactured pattern part and the resulting casting. This extra casting stock must be machined using a lengthy process, which involves scanning the object and creating a CNC program that is based on the actual shape of the desired die component part. Having the extra machining stock on the final cast part requires multiple rough machining steps, especially when a cutting edge is desired on the die component. The multiple rough machine steps are necessary because the extra stock on the cast part often exceeds the penetration depth of the CNC machine, such that the extra stock must first be removed through multiple rough cut operations. The cast part must also be hardened between rough machining processes and, finally, finish machined. The present invention eliminates several of the post-casting steps involved in making a finished die component by using additive manufacturing techniques.
Presently, computer aided design (CAD) software is used to facilitate the electronic designing of complex three-dimensional (3D) models of mold packages used to produce cast parts. In developing a mold package, the CAD software must first create a manufacturing model part from a design model part. This requires adding specific features which make the manufacturing model part castable using a molten material, such as a molten tool steel alloy. Mechanical features desired in the manufacturing model part require the CAD operator to add stock material on machine surfaces, add witness mark pockets on base surfaces, fill in threaded screw holes and dowel holes, add fillets to various sharp edges in the design model parts, and other preparations within the CAD software. At present, all these preparations have to be done manually and they are very tedious and time consuming given the multitude of die component parts needed for any given stamping job. Thus, a need exists for a supplemented ancillary computer implemented method to be used with present CAD software that is capable of auto-generating the manufacturing model part from a design model part having the desired mechanical features within the CAD software.